


Heart of a Dragon

by Herperderper



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 15:02:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7110427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herperderper/pseuds/Herperderper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blake Belladonna has just enrolled in Beacon Huntsmen Academy, but already things are going different than she expected. Her teammates are... interesting. First, there is Yang. She's really social, not a great start already. Weiss and Ruby are a surprise. Not only does Ruby have a dark past, but she and Weiss aren't exactly... normal. Warning: Dark themes and mentions of non-con.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Partners

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Herperderper here. This is a project I banged out in a few hours because I was bored and had the idea. I'm posting it to see of you guys would like it to be continued. Please comment, give Kudos, or whatever so I know, because if you guys don't really like it, I won't interrupt work on Ace of Aces.

I sighed, looking up to the stage. The old headmaster was continually droning on and on, spouting names for teams. Though he was over halfway through the list, he had yet to call my name, nor that of the girl by my side. She was blonde, tall, and quite well endowed. However she did seem a little… social for my liking. Her hair was well cared for, if a little unkempt. On her wrists were a pair of bracelets. They seemed mechanical in nature, and were quite obviously her weapons, as evidenced by the string of 12 gauge shells attached to them. I could only assume the true purpose of them, but I felt intrigued. The girl seemed to notice my observing and turned toward me.

“Hey,” she whispered. “My names Yang. What’s yours?” I rolled my eyes, did she really want to start a conversation right now, while the headmaster was naming teams?

“Blake.” I replied. Good, keep it short, and she’ll realize you don’t want to talk right now. You are a master of conversation Blake.

“Pretty name.” Or not… This girl can’t really take a hint can she. “So when do you think we’ll be called? Do you think we’ll be on the same team?” One question at a time lady.

“Thank you, I don’t know, probably not.” She better not keep talking, the headmaster has to call my name soon, right?

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, good luck on your teammates!” Damn this girl is persistent, well, it seems she’s done for now, let’s just hope the headmaster didn’t call my name while she was talking.

“Now, that seems to be all the names on the list.” Shit. “However, will the following two students please come to the stage; Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long.” What? I looked over to Yang, who seemed just as surprised as me. She shrugged before pushing her way through the crowd. I followed in her tracks.

“These students have shown excellent performance in the entrance exams.” Exams? That was not an exam, that was a slaughter. “And the place of a normal partner, each will receive a… special partnership. If you two would follow me, while Miss Goodwitch shows the rest of you to your dorms.” Again, Yang shrugged, and I followed her after Professor Ozpin. He took us down a long hallway, lit only by torches. Creepy. Soon we reached a heavy wooden door at the end of the hallway. Still creepy.

“Yang.” Ozpin started. “You will be partnered with someone who will… well, calm your erratic fighting style.”

“Erratic? I fight in a perfectly planned set of moves.” She retorted.

“Planned, and then thrown to the wind.” I snorted.

“Did I ask you?” she turned to me.

“Ladies.” Ozpin said soothingly. “Blake, you will be partnered with someone who will bring you out of your shell, but first you will have to bring her out of hers. She will be shy at first, but once you get to know her, she will become a great partner and friend. I have studied both of your files extensively, and I feel you will both be pleased with your partners, in due time.” With that, he turned and opened the door. “Ruby, Weiss, your partners are here.”

A head of unnaturally white hair appeared from behind a curtain in the room. The girl was petite, but muscular, seemingly hiding unknown strength. She was followed cautiously by a smaller girl. She seemed no older than 15. The small girl clung to the others arm, hiding behind her. Her crimson tipped hair was cut short, barely reaching her shoulders. But one thing caught my eye. Poking out of the girls mess of hair, was a pair of small, crimson horns, curling outward at the ends. The white haired girl had them as well. Hers were a brilliant white that rivaled her hair, they were longer, and curled backward.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Weiss Schnee, well, that’s the closest translation your tongue has.” The older girl spoke. She extended her closed fist toward us. I swatted Yang’s hand away before she could embarrass herself. Did she really think that Weiss wanted a fistbump?

“I am Blake Belladonna, the pleasure is ours.” I stepped forward, placing my closed fist halfway down the girl’s forearm. We gripped each other’s arms and bowed our heads, before sliding our arms down to a handshake. Weiss seemed impressed.

“I’m surprised you know of our greeting rituals, Blake.” She said respectfully.

“I tend to research anything that I can. Besides, Grimm Dragons have always fascinated me.” She nodded. 

“This is Ruby Rose, she is my adopted sister. She was… abused by her previous master, so she is shy, but once you get to know her, she will be very friendly.” She gestured toward the other girl, who shied away from us. Turning toward Yang, Weiss spoke again. “And you must be Yang Xiao-Long, my partner.”

“That’s me!” Yang said excitedly. I turned away from the two, intent on meeting Ruby. I approached her slowly, smiling lightly.

“Ruby?” I asked. She nodded slowly, eyes on the floor. “It seems we are partners.”

“Y- yes mistress.” She stuttered.

“Mistress? I’m not your mistress, I’m your partner. You can call me Blake.”

“Yes, mistress Blake.” I reached out slowly, placing my hand on her shoulder. Her silver eyes slowly rose to meet mine.

“Hey, I’m not your old master, okay? I’m not your master at all, I’m your partner, and I want to be your friend. But I can only do that if you accept me. I will never force anything on you, so if you don’t want to be my friend, you don’t have to, but remember, I’ll always be here for you to talk to, along with Weiss. I can’t say much about Yang, I’ve only just met her, but she seems to be the sisterly type.” She nodded, and I could see the tears in her eyes start to fade. The girl stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug.

“She’s been through so much, for one so young.” Weiss said, approaching me from behind.

“How old is she?” Yang asked. 

“Well, One hundred thirty seven, I believe.” Weiss told her.

“One hundred what!? She looks like she’s fifteen!”

“That may be true, but Grimm Dragons grow slowly, sometimes living to over one thousand years old, if they do not find their true partner. Once their partner is found, they age at the same rate as their partner. I am well over two hundred at this point, but I stopped counting years ago.” Weiss recounted. “When Ruby’s old master found out he was not her true partner, he took advantage of her in every way possible. I managed to rescue her after eleven years, but it was almost too late. The bastard had crafted a magical suppressor out of some handcuffs and various types of dust.”

“Who is he, I’m going to find the bastard and kill him!” Yang muttered, her lilac eyes turning a dangerous red.

“His name is Hei Xiong, more commonly known as Junior.” 

“I know exactly where he is, I’m going to kick his ass next time I see his ugly mug!” I turned around, Ruby still gripping me, and faced Yang.

“Yang, relax. You’re scaring Ruby.” It was true, Ruby was gripping me tighter and tighter, tears soaking into my shirt. 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry there Rubes.” A silence fell in the room. 

“So, um, weird question.” I started. “Where did Ozpin go?”


	2. Dorms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Herperderper here. Sorry this took longer than I meant, but here it is. Hope you like it. It's not very long, and I hope to rectify that in the next few chapters. So... here we go.

“I see you have met each other.” a gruff voice stated from behind us.

“AHH! You scared the shit out of me, old man!” Yang yelled, jumping around to face him with her fists raised. Ozpin looked amused, hiding his grin behind the ever-present coffee cup.

“Well, your dorm is through that door over there. All of your belongings are already inside.” He said, indicating a door on the other side of the room. “It is marked with your team name, I will see you all in class tomorrow. Good night, team RWBY” He turned and made his way back out the door we came through.

“Well, that was a thing.” I suggested. 

“So it was.” Weiss giggled. “I think Yang’s reaction was priceless.”

“Hey, he came out of nowhere. How else am I supposed to react?” I snorted, ruffling Ruby’s hair a little. She still clung to me, but not as tightly.

“Come on, let’s get to our dorm.” Ruby looked up at me, before grabbing my right arm with both of her hands and followed me as I led the way through the door. She remained silent the entire time. We entered a hallway with doors on each side, likely other dorm rooms, and followed it. Soon we arrived at a door marked with “RWBY”.

“I think this is it.” I stated, turning around toward the others.

“Well, thanks for stating the obvious, Blake, master of all-knowingness.” Yang criticized.

“Yang, stop.” Weiss warned.

“Yeah, yeah.” I pushed open the door, leading Ruby into the dorm. The walls were plain white, 4 beds stood along the back wall, almost pressed together. It looked pretty home-ish, I guess.

“We should probably figure out the bed situation.” I started. Before anyone could say anything, Yang collapsed on the bed farthest to the right. Soon, I heard soft snores from her bed. “Well I guess that settles that, I’m going to go get ready for bed. Ruby, go find a bed, alright.” She nodded, letting go of my arm. I grabbed my bag of toiletries, and headed toward the bathroom. Just before I reached the door, an arm blocked my way. I turned to face Weiss.

“Blake, Ruby can’t sleep without someone with her. I would do it, as I have done for the last few years, but I suggest you do. It will help strengthen your bond as partners.”

“Alright, I will. Thank you Weiss.” She nodded, pulling back her arm, and allowing me to open the door. I set my toothbrush and paste on the counter, and as I began to brush my thoughts slipped back to the initiation.

It had started out normally, the old man had told us to find the temple, and take the artifact. The forest had been quiet at first, and I found the temple with no trouble. The artifacts had been chess pieces, I took the golden knight piece, the black night seemed to be missing, though all the other pieces seemed to have four. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Shortly after leaving the temple, I ran face first into a tall blonde girl, Yang. Before introductions could be made, hordes of Grimm poured into the clearing. I lost Yang in the fighting, only catching glimpses of her flailing around wildly, firing shotgun shells into the Grimm. By the time the all Grimm had been killed, the forest floor was covered in black blood, but not just Grimm bodies littered the ground. Mixing in with the black, were large pools of red, spilling from the mangled bodies of over 10 initiates.

I finished brushing my teeth, and washed my mouth. The initiation was a terrible thing, but in our world, it was commonplace. I’d even been in attacks of larger scale. The memories of it were not pleasant.

A soldier lay on the ground, his hands clenched over his bloodied chest. The Deathstalker’s claw had punched a hole straight through his bulletproof vest, and the magazines held upon it. His Aura had only managed to soften the blow a small amount, causing the claw to stop before it came out his back side. Blood gurgled out of the corner of his mouth, his breath ragged and forced. Eyes were staring at the sky, not quite focused on anything. His rifle lay by his side, the receiver cracked and the name etched into it’s side no longer legible. It was the name of his girlfriend. A kevlar helmet rest abandoned near him, a picture of his family tied it. He stood in the middle, a large grin plastered on his face. He had his arms wrapped around a small girl, his sister. His parents stood on either side of him, smiling brightly. On each of their heads, a pair of cat-like ears protruded from dark hair. On the rear of the helmet, the soldier’s name was partially covered in blood, only his first initial and last name were legible: Pvt. R Belladonna. He was 17 years old, his sister, who found him first, only 12.

“B- Blake... “ he stuttered. “Don’t look, I- I love you. R- run back to Mom and Dad. Go!” As his sister ran, he took his last breath. “G- goodbye, l- little sis.” And there he would remain, nobody would even come back to the village for years, by then his body would be reduced to nothing but a skeleton. No one who had died in the village would receive a proper burial.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Thinking about my brother never ended well. Sighing, I pushed my way back through the door and into the dorm. Ruby sat on the edge of the bed next to Yang. I made my way to her. 

“Ready to go to sleep, Ruby?” She nodded. I scooted to the other side of the bed, slipping underneath the covers. As I closed my eyes, I felt arms wrap around me, and a small form press against my side. I grinned. “Goodnight, Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy, I'm back. Chapter's over. I had a little bit of an OC in there in the form of Blake's brother, R Belladonna. I wanted to emphasize as much as I can on the darkness in this world. Also, 10 dead initiates. Damn. Hope you guys liked it, leave a comment or whatever.


	3. Grimm Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Herperderper here. Woah, two chapters within a reasonable time frame... what is this? Basically, I had a motivation jump, don't expect it to last long... sorry. Well, new chapter ahead, hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think.

The portly - ha - professor continued on and on about his first hunt. Class was almost over, and not sure he’d even taken a break to breath. Weiss seemed to be just about the only one in class paying attention, though I had tried for the first 10 minutes. Yang was on my right, practically snoring, while Ruby doodled on her paper to my left. It was a cute little drawing of a dragon. I dragged my eyes off the drawing and back to the professor. The bell has to ring at some point, right?

Finally the ding of the bell interrupted the story, and the students stood quickly. I wrapped my right arm around Ruby’s shoulders and placed her between me and Yang. She would probably hate to be in a crowd, so I steered her as far away from everyone else as possible. Weiss gave me an approving look, before taking the lead and navigating us down the hallways.

Headmaster Ozpin had told us this morning that we would be attending a special class with him because of our “special” partnerships. He told us to meet him in the courtyard, and that’s where we found him, what a surprise.

“Welcome.” he started. “As you know, your team is not a normal team.” Wow, straight into it, okay. “For a partnership such as this to work, you must know as much about each other as possible. Today, we will be focusing on one member of the team. Would anyone like to volunteer to tell the others about your life?” No. No no. No no no. No one told me we were doing this. I’m not doing this.

“I will.” Yang’s voice startled me. “I was born in Patch, a small island off of mainland Vale. My mother is a Huntress, and I guess she’s my motivation to be here right now. My dad works as a teacher at Signal academy, as well as my uncle Qrow.” Yang’s tone grew darker. “When I was young, 4 years old, my Mom disappeared. Dad told me she went on a mission, and she never came back. Dad thinks she died, but I think she’s still out there. That’s kinda why I’m here, you know, to find her.” she trailed off.

“Well, Yang Xiao-Long. Thank you for sharing. Now if you would tell everyone about you weapon of choice?” Ozpin spoke up. Yang grinned. With a flick of her wrists, here ever-present braclets expanded into full-forearm bracers, complete with 12 gauge shotgun barrels.

“Say hello to Ember Celica, a pair of ranged ballistic gauntlets. 12 Gauge shells, 3 ½ inch magnum. I’ve got double-aught buck, rifled slug, and various dust shells. With some small tweaks to the recoil system and chamber, I can use the kick to launch myself around the battlefield.” She said proudly.

“Impressive.” I said softly.

“Reckless.” Weiss muttered.

“Thank you Yang. Blake, as you are the only other member of the team with a weapon, would you like to tell us about it?” Ozpin turned to me.

“Sure,” I pulled my weapon from it’s holster on my back. “Gambol is a Katana combined with a semi-automatic 9 millimeter repeating pistol with a 15 round magazine. Unfortunately, she is currently jammed because of the Grimm blood in the initiation. I have some upgrades planned for her that I will probably make soon, due to her condition, that I named Shroud.” I fell silent again, and the old man nodded.

“Thank you, Blake. That will conclude this section of the class, you may now meet Miss Goodwitch by the fountain. Have a good day, I will see you tomorrow.” With that, he walked off, probably back to his office. I looked to Yang, who met my gaze and shrugged. We started in the direction of the fountain, thoroughly confused.

Before long we found her. She sat on a bench by the fountain, her scroll in her hands. She seemed to be watching a video of some sort, probably security footage. She always seemed to know what was going on around campus.

“Good, you’re here. Please, take a seat.” I sat next to Ruby on the opposite bench, while Yang and Weiss sat on another adjacent bench. Miss Goodwitch put away her scroll, and began again.

“Grimm Dragons, as you know, are fundamentally different to Humans. Though they may look like Humans, their forms hide extreme strength, and some more… superhuman abilities. Some of which have been lost to the history books. Now, it has been many years since a Grimm Dragon has been partnered with a Human, Ruby being the last almost 20 years ago, and even longer since a true partnership has been achieved. The last true partnership took place over 400 years ago. Due to the large amount of time that has passed since Grimm Dragons have walked among us, many once well known details have been forgotten to most. The Dragons have been turned almost into a fairy tale, with many facts being made up. It is not true that the Dragons can breath fire, it was made up when someone confused the mythical Drakes, with the very real Grimm Dragons.” This lady is extremely long winded… she kinda reminds me of Professor Port. “However, the Dragons do have one trick up their sleeves, one that even the eldest bards have forgotten. Weiss, of you would.” Weiss stood, untying her hair from it’s normal position, letting it fall freely upon her shoulders.

She began to hum a tune I didn’t recognize, and soon mist seemed to pool around her. I stood slowly, followed by Yang. The mist encircled her, and the wind seemed to pick up. Her flowing dress seemed to morph, changing shape and clinging to her skin. The whole thing almost looked like it was straight out of one of those Mangas that I definitely have never read ever in my life, no way. Suddenly, the mist thickened, blocking Weiss from view, before dissipating almost as quickly. In Weiss’ place, stood a large, scaly… Drake. It’s scales were pure white, with a small pink scar across it’s left eye, just like Weiss. She stood about 8 feet tall, and twenty five from nose to tail. With a small growl, she stretched her wings. They were almost 30 feet from tip to tip, and they were tipped with a single claw each. 2 horns grew from her head, matching Weiss’ exactly.

“Woah.” Yang said anti-climactically.

“That seems to be a little bit of an understatement, Yang.” I muttered, still staring at Weiss. Behind me, Ruby giggled. I turned to see her smiling widely. I couldn’t help but smile as well. seeing the younger girl smile for the first time made me happy.

“In her true form, Weiss is even stronger than before. Other than the obvious physical changes, no mental changes have taken place. She is just as smart as before, though she cannot speak. Soon however, you will develop a special bond. It’s hard to explain, but you will be able to speak, without speaking.” Goodwitch continued.

Weiss took a step toward Yang, extending her neck. Gently, she pressed her nose into the blonde girl’s forehead. Yang laughed softly, rubbing the Dragon’s snout with her hands. A low rumble seemed to emanate from the white Dragon. She stepped backward, Again the mist seemed to surround her, and within a few seconds she was looked Human again.

“Woah.” Yang stated again.

“Is that all you can say, Yang?” Weiss asked.

“I mean… that was awesome! I had no idea you could do that!” Yang was practically hanging off the girl.

“Now, Weiss is very adept at her transformations.” Goodwitch interrupted. “And Ruby will in time, but the magical suppressor that she was forced to wear has stopped her first transformation. This will make it harder for her in the future, but I’m sure that you will help her where and whenever you can. Now, that seems to be all the time we have today, so run along back to your dorms.” Turning, I helped Ruby off of the bench. She was still smiling.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Yeah.” was her reply. Again I smiled. Already the young girl seemed to be happier, and her excitement was very contagious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter done. What'd ya think? Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a comment to tell me what you think... it really helps. Feel free to make suggestions too. Thanks! Herperderper out.


	4. Of Friendships and Weaponry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Herperderper here. Deadlines? What are those? Sorry it's really late, but as I probably mentioned earlier, I can't get these things done on a schedule, so bear with me here. So new chapter, yada yada yada, you know the drill: read that shit.

I woke to Ruby’s arms squeezing tighter around my waist. The small girl was whimpering, clinging as tightly as she could to me. Panicking, I did the only thing I could.

“Shh, It’s okay Ruby.” I whispered. I ran one hand through her hair, and with the other I rubbed her back. The motions seemed to calm her, but he remained in her panic. A rustle startled me, and another pair of hands wrapped themselves around Ruby.

“Hush, little one. You are safe here.” Weiss’ soothing voice seemed to calm Ruby even more. She lifted the younger Dragon into a hug. “She has nightmares often.” Weiss whispered. I nodded silently, not wanting to disturb them. Though she was much more calm than before, the smaller girl stilled moved slightly from time to time. Soon, her hand found my arm and squeezed. I placed my other hand comfortingly over hers.

“You should sleep, Blake. She may need to be comforted for a long time. It’s hard to tell sometimes.” Weiss told me quietly.

“No. What kind of partner would I be if I can’t comfort her?” She smiled, before nodding.

***Holy shit, it’s a line break***

Yawning, I put the frame of the pistol down on the table. The weapon was jammed tightly because of all the blood and grit of combat. The upgrades I had designed were ready to be made, but first I had to clean Gambol. Footsteps behind me warned me of someone entering the dorm.

“What are you doing, Blake?” Ruby asked. She seems to be speaking more than this morning, hopefully she feels better after her nightmare last night.

“I’m just cleaning my weapon before I make some upgrades.” I said, turning around to face her. She stood in the middle of the room, one arm crossed awkwardly over her chest, it’s hand wrapped around the other arm.

“C-can I see?” she stuttered.

“Of course.” I beckoned her over with my hand. She sat beside me on the bed, legs crossed and hands in her lap. “Currently I have it stripped down to the frame. The slide and firing mechanism have been jammed pretty bad…” She sat still, listening closely to everything I was saying. A small smile graced her face as she watched me clean and put together the weapon. When I asked for a part, she would happily pick it out of the mess and hand it to me. I was enthralled to see her so happy, as I had never seen her like this before. Soon the pistol was in one piece, cleaned thoroughly, and well oiled.

“Let me go do something really quick, and we can go meet Yang and Weiss.” I told her. Smiling, she nodded. Standing, I made my way to the bathroom. Grabbing my hygiene kit, I pulled the toothbrush and paste out, placing them on the counter top. Last night had been tiring, as Ruby had kept Weiss and I awake for an hour, so I had not yet been able to brush my teeth. I had woken up almost an hour after everyone else, and decided that I would clean my weapon. Besides, I have nothing else to do this weekend, why the hell not.

Finished, I put my kit away and walked out the door. I found Ruby hunched over a piece of paper on the table, a pencil in her hand. Quietly, I moved closer. Over her shoulder, I saw a large, mechanical scythe. The blade seemed to be able to fold away, as evidenced by a drawing of the collapsed version. Below the weapon, a box shape was filled with what looked like rifle ammunition. A larger scale of the round was drawn next to it, and was denoted as a .50 caliber anti-materiel round. Above all this, the name was written: Crescent Rose.

“What’s this Ruby?” I asked. She squeaked and scrambled to cover it up.

“N- nothing!” she said, panicked.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.” she looked down at the paper, before looking back up at me.

“It’s a thing I kinda designed. I thought that… well, since I can’t show my true form right now, I should have some way to defend myself, right? I don’t know, it was a stupid idea.” She cast her eyes down, looking at the floor.

“Hey, I think it’s a wonderful idea. In fact, why don’t I help you make it?” I offered

“Really? Would you?” her face lit up at the idea.

“Of course, we can start tomorrow!”

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!” she shouted, jumping up to hug me. I stumbled, nearly knocked off balance, before hugging her back.

“It’s settled then. But first, we need to go make sure Yang and Weiss aren’t getting into trouble. something tells me we have to worry about Yang more than Weiss though.” Ruby just giggled, and followed me out.

***Oh shit, another one***

As it turned out, Yang wasn’t in trouble… yet. She seemed to be having a syrup drinking contest with a red-headed girl that I recognized as Nora from the initiation. From what I had seen of her, I knew only one thing: I really need some of whatever kind of drug she’s on. The girl had boundless energy. The only thing that seemed to calm her down was her partner, Lie Ren. Ren was a very calm person, even in combat. He didn’t seem to talk much, which I liked about him. The others of their team were Pyrrha and Jaune. Juane was a clumsy, blonde kid that seemed more suited to a bakery than a battlefield. During the initiation, I’m pretty sure I saw him trip over his own feet, almost impaling himself on his shield. That’s right, his shield, not even his sword. It takes some sort of talent, I guess. Pyrrha was a scarlet haired combat master. She seemed to be one of the best in the academy, practiced in sword fighting, marksmanship, and hand-to-hand combat. If I ever had to fight someone in the academy, I really hope it wouldn’t be her.

“I WIN!” shouted Nora, slamming two empty bottles of syrup onto the table. Two more empty bottles sat before her. On Yang’s side, three were empty, but the last still half full. Yang groaned, and leaned back in her chair, dropping the bottle back onto the table top. The blonde fished five lien out of her bra, gross, and handed it to Nora. The redhead jumped up, stacking her syrup bottles in an impossible looking tower on her head, singing something about being “Queen of the Castle!” Shaking my head, I sat down next to Yang. Ruby sat beside me.

“Stop making stupid bets, Yang. One day you’ll get yourself killed for 5 lien.” She just groaned, resting her head on the back of the chair. Weiss laughed from the opposite side of Yang.

“Here, give this to Ruby.” She said, reaching past the immobile brawler and handing me a large chocolate chip cookie. Alright, now where the fuck did that come from. I could have sworn that there were no cookies on the table when I got here, and that girl doesn’t have any pockets. She wears a dress for fucks sake. Thoroughly confused, I passed the cookie to Ruby, who excitedly ate it all in one bite. What the hell! That cookie was massive! How in the… you know what, I’m just not going to question this anymore. Grimm Dragons are weird, let’s leave it at that.

“Good morning Blake.” Ren stated calmly.

“Good morning.” I replied. He seemed to be disinterested with the occurrences at the table, until Nora slammed into him, throwing them both to the floor.

“Hey Ren!” she said energetically.

“Hello, Nora.” I shook, my head. I had no idea how those two got along so well. I guess it comes from knowing each other that long.

“So what are you girls doing this weekend?” Jaune asked.

“Yang and I are going to go into the city and shop.” Weiss told him. Yang just groaned again. I guess three and a half bottles of syrup didn’t feel very good.

“What about you Blake?” He questioned. Ruby turned to me.

“Well, Ruby and I have something planned.” I winked in her direction, which elicited a smile.

***Holy shit, three line breaks***

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and dropped the hammer onto the workbench. Grabbing the tongs, I picked up the blade and quenched it. With a clang, I dropped it beside the others, and Ruby’s face lit up.

“All ready to put together.” I said, still trying to catch my breath. The smaller girl started grabbing pieces, expertly putting them together. I guess she really thought about this thing. It was amazing to watch, her hands almost a blur as she pieced the weapon together. Soon it was fully formed. 

It stood almost six feet tall, the blade two and a half feet from tip to staff. In the center of the staff, a chamber, bolt-action and magazine well were placed. The inside of the upper half was hollow, with a 1 in 15 rifling twist. The last few inches of the barrel had an integral muzzle brake, consisting of angled holes to let the gases escape. On the bench lay five ten-round magazines. The blade itself consisted of two parallel sets of blades that could fold away into a more compact form. Each small blade was razor sharp.

Ruby picked it up, getting in a low combat stance. Her enhanced extreme strength making the heavy weapon seem like a toy. She twirled it around herself with ease. I watched to motions, mesmerized by the blur of the blade. Suddenly, Ruby yelped, and the scythe clattered to the floor.

“What happened?!” I demanded. Tears started streaming down her face, and two red lines started to appear on her arm. I crouched next to her, taking her arm in my hands. She whimpered as I slowly cleaned the wounds. Taking a deep breath, I started to open the wound. Ruby stiffened, stifling a cry. It was deep, almost to the bone. I let out a shaky breath.

“We have to get you to the Infirmary.” I lifted her up, and she wrapped her good arm around my neck. “Come on, little one. Let’s get you fixed up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy, chapter over. Hope you liked it. You know the drill again: tell me what you think, leave a suggestion. Remember, I use suggestions all the time in this story. So, until next time. Herperderper out.


	5. Winchester

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry for the wait. I have no excuse for it other than the fact that I am a terrible person, so here is a slightly longer chapter for your enjoyment.

Ruby’s hand gripped my arm tighter as the doctor finished up the last of the stitches.

“All done.” She said, before starting to wrap the wounds with a bandage. “You should really be more careful, those cuts almost severed an artery.” Ruby nodded silently, her head drooping.

“We’ll be sure to be more careful in the future, thanks doc.” I helped Ruby off the bed, and we walked out the door. With a small sniffle, she clung to my side.

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” I reassured her. “You just need practice, and in no time I’m sure you’ll be swinging her around like it’s nothing.” I pulled her tighter to my side, and she leaned her head on my shoulder. We walked down the hall in silence, but soon another set of footsteps followed us.

“Oh look. It’s the Faunus whore and her little pet.” A voice called out. I recognized it as Cardin Winchester, the academy’s very own racist douche. Not for the first time, I started to wonder why I hadn’t hidden my Faunus nature as I had planned to. In the end I had decided to that it would cause too much trouble if I was found out.

“How did you get in this school, kitty cat? Did you screw the headmaster, because that’s the only reason a dirty Faunus like you would be here. None of you stand a chance against a man like me.” I just rolled my eyes and kept walking, pulling Ruby slightly faster toward our dorm.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” He shouted. He grabbed my left shoulder, and Ruby’s right. “You and your little pet here-” That’s as far as he got. I pushed Ruby to the side and spun around, landing an open palmed strike on the left side of his jaw that knocked him straight to the floor. Slowly, painfully, he turned his head to look at me as I stood over him.

“Little tip.” I hissed at him. “It’s better for your health if you don’t talk about my partner like that.” I let it soak in for a second before kicking him hard, knocking him unconscious. A small cough echoed down the hallway. There stood professor Goodwitch, a clipboard in her hand, and a look of disapproval on her face.

“Miss Belladonna, would you please escort Miss Rose to your dorm, and then meet me in the Headmaster’s office?” Her voice was calm, but I could tell she was pissed. Sighing, I looked over at Ruby, then back to the professor.

“Yes ma’am.” I held my arm out for Ruby, and again she clung tightly to my side. After a few moments of walking in silence, she looked up at me.

“Why did you do it?” She asked.

“What, fight him?” I questioned. 

“Yeah. You didn’t make a move toward him until he insulted me and grabbed us.” Again, silence filled the air.

“Well,” I started after a while. “My father taught me never to start a fight, but to always finish one. The fight started when he insulted you, and then laid a hand on me. The fight was over when I kicked his teeth in. To be honest, I probably would have been much easier on him if he had left you out of it.” We stopped outside the dorm, and I placed my hands on Ruby’s shoulders.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry about me. If you need help with anything, Weiss should be in there, and I’m sure Yang would be more than happy to help you. Alright?” She nodded.

“Alright.” she responded. 

“Good. Please don’t tell them what happened with Cardin. I just want this to stay between us, okay.” Again, she nodded, and I smiled. “I’m off to the office then.” With a quick turn, I made my way toward Ozpin’s office.

***Holy Shit, Line Break***

“I’m not going to defend myself.” I said, careful not to show any emotion.

“I didn’t say you had to.” Goodwitch said. “But you do have to explain why I found you beating one of our students in the hallway.”

“I was just finishing a fight he had started. He’s just a racist bastard who had the guts to insult my partner, before laying hand on me. I took that to be a fight, and I ended it right then and there. Honestly, I don’t know how you people could let a person like him stay at this school.” I said, a little disgusted.

“Don’t think we like it any better than you do, Miss Belladonna.” Ozpin sighed. “Unfortunately, his father has a tight hold on our academy, and we can’t do anything about it.”

“So you’re just going to continue letting him bully people just because of his father?”

“You forget, this is a battle school. If someone is causing a problem, it is perfectly acceptable to challenge them to a duel in the Arena.” He lectured. “This is the only reason you are not being punished, but please, do it in the Arena next time. As for your, question, no. We will be watching Mr. Winchester closely from this point onward. If he takes action against his fellow students again, he will face strict disciplinary action, but for now, I think you taught him a lesson. You are dismissed, but please refrain from getting into another fight. I wouldn’t want to see you in my office again so soon.” I nodded, before standing and exiting the room.

I sighed as I walked down the hallway. That went better than expected I guess. After a short walk I ended up at the dorm. The door creaked a little as I opened it, but there was no other noise in the room. Even with my eyes, I could barely see with as dark as the room was. I saw the shape of Weiss sleeping in her bed, but the other beds were empty. After a quick search, I found Ruby and Yang. They were both curled up by the holo-screen, game controllers in their hands, sound asleep. Ruby’s head was in Yang’s lap, and the blonde had one arm wrapped around the smaller girl.

I couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped. I better go take a shower, so I can regain my composure. Gotta keep up the tough girl facade, you know. Before long, was undressed and soaking in the almost scalding water. With a sigh, I closed my eyes to relax. When I opened them again, I was in a different bathroom.

“Blake! Hurry up, your mother wants to go!” A voice called through the door.

“I’m almost done!” I yelled back, my voice ringing with youthful energy. I stepped out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed. With a push, I opened the door and bounded down the stairs. My parents sat on the couch, dressed up and ready to go.

“Ready!” I said, and we made our way to the door. The car ride took an hour, and I could barely contain myself the entire time. We pulled into the airdocks, found a parking spot, and headed to the terminal. The crowd wasn’t very large, but all of them were taller than me, so I couldn’t see what was going on. Soon, however, my mother gasped, and my father started waving. The crowd cleared and he stepped out. He wore a camouflage military uniform, his name printed neatly over his right breast. On his shoulders were two large bags, containing his entire life from the past 3 months. As he saw me, he smiled even wider.

“Rouge!” I shouted, running to him.

“Little sis!” He knelt down, catching me in a hug. We embraced for what seemed like hours, happy to finally see each other again. Finally, we let go. I leaned back, staring into his deep scarlet eyes.

“I’m so happy to see you!” He said. “You have no idea, how much I missed you when I was on the base. He stood, roughing up my hair with his hand, before embracing our parents. “I made a new friend in Boot Camp!” He said excitedly. He gestured another soldier in the crowd. He had scarlet hair, almost the same shade as Rouge’s eyes.

“This is Private First Class Adam Taurus. He was my Squad Leader, and we became pretty good friends.” Adam stepped forward, shaking my parent’s hands.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna. I’ve heard many stories about you, as well as little Blake over there. It turns out, I grew up a few houses down from you.”

“He’s a hell of a soldier, and an even better squad leader.” Rouge continued. “But don’t let that fool you, the guy’s only 15!”

“I didn’t think they let anyone that young join.” Father said, surprised.

“Oh they normally don’t. But Adam out-shot the shooting instructor in a competition, so they let him in.” Adam smiled slightly.

“It was nice meeting you all, but I have to go meet my parents. Have a good day. Oh, and Blake.” I perked up when I heard my name. “Happy birthday.” With that, he walked off into the crowd. Rouge smiled.

“Yeah, happy birthday sis, what do you say we get out of here and go get something to eat?” I nodded excitedly. He smiled, before turning around, and holding his arms out.

“You want a piggyback ride, or are you too old for that now?” With a grin, I jumped on his back, and he wrapped his arms around my legs. Father grabbed his bags and we headed for the car.

“Where to, Birthday girl?” Mother asked. I smiled, and patted my brother’s head.

“Wherever he wants to go, this is already the best 12th birthday ever!”

I opened my eyes slowly, the water had long since run cold. Shaking my head to clear the memories, I turned the water off. Quickly toweling off, I dressed in my pajamas, and pushed back into the dorm room.

Making my way to where the sleeping girls were, I gently picked Ruby up from the floor. Once she was comfortable in my arms, I kicked Yang.

“Ah, what the hell.” She snorted, raising her fists.

“Quiet, Ruby’s sleeping. Get up and get your ass to bed.” I whispered.

“I was already asleep, why’d you have to wake me?”

“I’m trying to save you from a sore back, but whatever.” I turned back to the bed, placing Ruby in gently, before slipping in myself. Her arms quickly latched to me, and she sighed contently. Almost giggling again, I closed my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now I feel like a dick for killing her brother. As a side note, this chapter of Heart of a Dragon is brought to you by Starbucks, and the song "Danger Line" by Avenged Sevenfold, as they were the only things keeping me alive as I smashed this out in three hours because I am a piece of Human garbage. Anywho, as usual, leave kudos and a comment telling me what you think, or if you have any suggestions. I'd just like to thank everyone who has so far. So thank you Phteven_Skate, RealTerminal, Ghostrama13, ExKage, Mfox0109, Growlscout, and trystan for the comments, and all 47 of you for the Kudos. See you in the next chapter, Herperderper out.


	6. Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL CHAPTER, THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THIS AND OTHER FICS!

Hey there, Herperderper here with bad news... Unfortunately, shit hit the fan in my life, and the already dismal update schedule is going to get worse. Basically, I get up at 0500 in the morning, leave the house, and don't get back until 1900 (7:00) at the earliest. This leaves only leaves me with enough time to eat dinner, relax a little with about an hour of gaming, and then I have to sleep. Usually I forgo the gaming and type up the stories a little bit, but when I do, I don't get to relax as much, and it just gets worse. I'm doing what I can to fix it, but until then, I won't be able to update very often. If you haven't already, I recommend checking out my other fic: Ace of Aces. (Of course I would shamelessly plug my other fic, what do you take me for) It's not your typical fic. It's a military AU, where team RWBY fly aircraft and shit. Fun stuff. It's like, 11 chapters at this point, so it should last for a while if you like it. Anywho, I'm sorry again, for now my life is a trainwreck. I'll see you in the next chapter, whenever that may be. Herperderper out.


	7. Hunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOT! New chapter. Before we go on, I would just like to thank you all for your sentiment. It's really heart-warming to see that. So thanks. Anywho, on to the chapter. It's a long one, so enjoy.

“Blake, wake up!” Yang yelled, shaking me awake.

“What do you want? It’s like 4 in the morning.” I grumbled, my eyes still shut tight.

“Actually, it’s 10, you over slept again.” She shook me again.

“Leave me alone, I’m still tired.” I rolled on my side so my back was toward her.

“You’re so lazy, I’m beginning to think you’re just a cat, not a faunus.” she said.

“Hey, I resent that.” 

“Then why don’t you get up and fight me?” When I didn’t respond she yelled again. “Well?”

“Shut up, I’m torn between putting your ass in the ground, and continuing to sleep.”

“Ugh, come on. Ozpin wants us in his office in half an hour. Weiss and Ruby are already getting food.”

“Fine.” I grumbled, rolling onto my back. With a yawn, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Scooping up another pair of clothes, I walked into the bathroom. I stared blankly at the mirror as I brushed my teeth. After a quick change, I walked back into the room, finding Yang playing a game on her scroll.

“Let’s go.” She jumped up, opening the door and walking down the hall. I followed as we headed for the cafeteria. People were talking loudly as we entered, excitedly talking about whatever. I grabbed a bagel and an apple from the line, heading back to the table Ruby, Weiss, and team JNPR were sitting at.

“Hey Blake.” Jaune said, before continuing to talk animatedly about something. Ruby sat across from him, enraptured by the story. I bit into my apple, looking around the room. The first thing I noticed was Cardin. He had a black eye, and a large bruise on his jaw. Serves him right, I hope it hurts to eat.

“Why does Cardin look like he lost a fight with an Ursa?” Yang asked, sitting down next to us.

“Mmno idea.” I said, my mouth still full of apple. For a few minutes I sat in silence, watching Ruby as she followed along with Jaune’s story.

“We should get going now.” Weiss spoke up, interrupting Jaune as he got to “the good part.”

“Okay.” Ruby said sadly.

“Don’t worry, Ruby. I’ll tell you the rest next time I see you!” The team stood, and I placed my hand on Ruby’s shoulder. I’d learned that she no longer needed to be constantly guided, but a reassuring presence was appreciated. She looked back at me, smiling. We followed Yang toward Ozpin’s office, making our way through the various hallways of the school. When we finally reached his door, Weiss knocked.

“Come in.” The headmaster’s voice called from inside. We filed inside, standing in front of his desk. “Welcome, I assume you are wondering why I asked you here.” How cliche.

“Yes sir.” Weiss responded.

“Well, we have a job for you. The four of you have proven to be one of the best teams this academy has had in years. Recently, Grimm have been amassing in the forest of Forever-Fall, and we believe you are capable of, well… fixing the problem.” He tapped his scroll a few times, and the screen behind him lit up with a map of the Forever-Fall forest. “You will be inserted by Bullhead transport. Once you eliminate the threat, call for extraction, and signal the transport with a smoke signal. Are you ready for this mission?”

“Yes sir.” We said in unison.

“Good, you leave in one hour. Meet your pilot at the airdock in 50 minutes. You are dismissed.” We filed back out the door, and started on our way back toward our dorm.

“So, that was sudden.” I offered. Ruby hummed an affirmative.

*** I Hope These Don’t “Break” Your Immersion ***

“Team RWBY? I’m going to be your pilot.” The man before us wore an olive green G-suit, with a flight helmet hooked to his belt. He was clean shaven, and his hair was cut very short. “Hop in, we’re just starting the pre-flight.” Shrugging, Yang climbed into the transport, followed by the rest of us.

“Anyone have a plan for this?” Yang asked as we settled down in the seats.

“I- I do.” Ruby said timidly.

“Go on.” I encouraged, resting my hand back on her shoulder.

“W- well, Weiss can scout from the air, Yang can go with her.” She started.

“Alright, I like where this is going, but I can’t fly.” Yang interrupted.

“You can ride me.” Weiss told her.

“That’s what she said.” I snorted.

“Shut it, Blake. I guess it’s settled then.” Yang stated. “Continue Ruby.”

“Blake and I can go in on the ground. When you two find them you can guide us into them.” Ruby finished.

“I like it.” I declared. The engines began to whine, and the lights inside the transport bay lit up.

“Team RWBY, this is you pilot. We will be lifting off in a few seconds here, then turning South West for a 10 minute flight to the LZ. Please be ready to exit quickly, and bring all gear with you.” The voice of the pilot filled the small transport bay. A crew member stepped into the bay with us, closing the doors on both sides of the aircraft.

“Crew prepare for liftoff in 10.” A small pause followed the sentence. “3, 2, 1, lifting.” We lifted off the ground with a small jolt, and started on our way toward the forest. Ruby leaned her head back onto my shoulder, and I lightly touched her head with mine, letting her know I was there.

“Entering final approach, 5, 4, left door, 2, 1, brace.” The craft bounced as it struck the ground, and the crewman quickly opened the left side door. “Crew prep for immediate dust off.” Ruby and I jumped quickly out the door, shortly followed by Yang and Weiss. The transport lifted off as soon as we exited, heading away from the cluster of Grimm somewhere in the forest.

As the sound of the engines faded, I pulled my weapon from it’s place on my back. Pulling the slide part way back, I checked that a round was loaded in the chamber. I pressed the mag release, checking that magazine was full before inserting it back into the weapon. Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from her back and did the same.

“Ready, Yang?” Weiss asked.

“Uh, probably?” Yang replied, somewhat uncertain. With a hum, Weiss stepped forward, beginning her transformation. It still amazed me as the white haired girl disappeared, replaced by a sparkling white Dragon. Yang stood, staring at her with her arms at her sides.

“Go on, Yang.” Ruby said.

“Yeah, uh, this may come as a surprise to you, but I’ve never ridden a Dragon before. Not even once.” I rolled my eyes.

“Just climb on, Yang. You see the dip between her third and fourth spikes? Right there.” I told her.

“I- how?” She stuttered.

“Like I said, research. The old tales of the Drake Riders were apparently based on Grimm Dragons, because she looks exactly like the drawings. NOW GET THE FUCK ON WEISS!” Yang jumped as I yelled, raising her arms as if to defend herself.

“Holy crap, alright!” She quickly climbed onto the Dragon’s back. Weiss cleared her wings, before leaping into the air, stroking downward at the same time. She lifted away from the trees, starting the search for the Grimm. I turned to Ruby, who was grinning widely. I smiled too.

“Come on, Little One. Might as well make up some ground.”

***AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGokay I’m done screaming***

“Weiss indicated somewhere around here.” I said, coming to a stop.

“There!” Ruby said, pointing into the tree line. I raised my weapon, finding a mass of Grimm in my sights.

“Alright.” I sighed. “Remember, aim for the chest, it’s a bigger target, and those anti-materiel rounds should be more than enough. I’ll get in close and engage. Yang should join me once the battle starts. Ready?” She nodded, and I turned my attention back to the horde of Grimm. Silently, I made my way closer to the beasts, gun at the ready. Once I was close enough to engage, I gave Ruby the signal to fire. I raised my fist, dropping it sharply.

*SNAP!* The round passed by me, hitting the first Beowolf and ripping it apart. The report of the rifle came half a second later, it’s deadly song echoing through the trees. I dumped the magazine of my pistol into the nearest beast, watching it slump to the ground. My katana shifted into place, and I moved into melee range. Hacking and slashing in every direction, I made my way through the mass of Grimm with relative ease. If I missed one, it was finished off with the report of Ruby’s rifle. I ducked left, slashed right, jumped back, and thrusted forward. The practiced ease of my swordsmanship slaying Grimm before they could fight back. Suddenly, my blade stopped. Quickly looking toward it, I found the blade stuck halfway through a tree.

“Son of a b-.” A claw caught my side, throwing me into another tree. Groaning, I tugged on the ribbon connecting me to my weapon. It returned after a small struggle. I quickly replaced the empty magazine, dropping it to the forest floor. I raised the weapon again, preparing to shoot the beast that had hit me, but I was too late.

“COME AT ME!” Yang yelled as she barreled straight into the fight. With punches left and right, she started to make holes in the Grimm mass. I joined her, covering her back from the encroaching beasts. One clawed at me, and I slashed it away, switching between targets to best defend. The beasts seemed to be thinning out.

*Click, Click* “Aw, that can’t be good.” Yang muttered, the strings of shells on her bracers having run dry. I spun around, finishing off the beast she was fighting, but my weapon soon met the same fate.

“Problem.” I stated, struggling to replace the magazine. A Beowolf jumped at us, it’s claw raised to strike. A white blur streaked in, intercepting the Grimm. The beast howled as it was dragged away by a pure white Dragon.

“Weiss Ex Machina.” I muttered.

“What?” Yang questioned.

“Nothing.” I slotted the magazine into its home, turning to find the last two Grimm hesitating in the trees. A growl was cut short as the first’s chest erupted in black blood, the second collapsed to the ground. A rifle shot echoed through the forest, signaling the end of the fight.

“That was awesome.”Yang said, kind of ruining the moment. Ruby rushed to us, a wide grin plastered on her face.

“Did you see that?! I got two at once!” She squealed excitedly. “They just lined up, I didn’t even have to move!”

“I guess you saw your shot.” Yang declared, making finger guns in Ruby’s direction and winking.

“That was terrible.” I groaned. The sound of flapping wings interrupted the conversation, as Weiss emerged from the tree line, once again in her Human-like form.

“A wonderful fight.” She started. “Are you alright, Blake? You seem to be bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” I told her, looking down at the blood dripping from my side. “I’ve had worse.” The Dragon lifted my shirt, inspecting the wound. “I said I’m fine Weiss.” She clicked her tongue.

“You’re lucky your Aura reacted in full capacity, you probably would have died otherwise. As it is, you’ll need a few stitches.” She pulled my shirt back down. “Put pressure on it to slow the bleeding. It’s nothing serious, but you don’t want to be bleeding anymore than you have to.”

“Whatever, mom.: I muttered, pressing my hand to the wound. She just rolled her eyes, turning to Yang. “Do you have the signal?” she asked.

“Yeah, right here.” The brawler pulled the cylindrical smoke grenade from a pouch at her waist. 

“Good, I’ll call it in.” Weiss removed a radio from one of her pouches. “Team RWBY requesting extract on our position, LZ will be marked by green smoke.”

“Solid copy, Team RWBY. En route to your location, ETA 60 seconds, how copy?” The pilot’s voice said.

“Solid copy, out.” Weiss looked at Yang, indicating the clearing with her head. The brawler pulled the pin, tossing the grenade into the clearing. Soon green smoke poured from it. A minute later, the Bullhead had landed in the clearing, and we were on board. Ruby yawned, her head leaning on my shoulder. I leaned my head to hers, yawning as well. I closed my eyes and listened to the hum of the engines as we headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done. I hope you liked it, please leave a comment telling me what you think. Just so you know, my schedule is still fucked, but I do have a little more time at home, so these will hopefully speed up a little. Thanks for being patient! See you in the next chapter, Herperderper out.


	8. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Herperderper here finally with another chapter of Heart... It has been way to long since updated this fic, so I made an extra long chapter for you this time, about twice as long actually. I really hope you like it, and please remember to tell me what you think!

“And fighting Miss Rose will be… Cardin Winchester.” Cardin stood, beginning to make his way into the Arena. When he reached the edge, he jumped over the railing, dropping onto the Arena floor.

“Bring it on, Shrimp.” he taunted. “You don’t have your master to save you this time.” He pulled his mace from his back, swinging it in front of him. I glanced nervously at Yang and Weiss.

“Begin.” Ruby slammed the blade of Crescent Rose into the Arena floor, and began firing wax rounds at Cardin. He blocked most of them, before taking one to the knee, and collapsing. A small “clunk” echoed through the almost silent Arena as Ruby dropped the empty magazine from the weapon. Suddenly, Cardin leaped back to his feet, throwing his mace like a javelin at the Dragoness. It clipped her shoulder, sending her to the ground. The armor clad warrior approached slowly, laughing as Ruby struggled to her feet.

“What’s wrong Horn-head? To weak? Can’t defend yourself from a superior being?” He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air. I stood quickly in my seat, only to be stopped by Yang and Weiss.

“I want to kill him too, Blake. But Glynda will stop it if he hurts her.” Yang whispered. Ruby struggled against Cardin’s grasp, kicking and clawing at anything she could reach. Glynda started to step forward, but Cardin slammed Ruby to the floor.

“Enough!” Professor Goodwitch yelled, but he continued to strangle the Dragoness. Yang and Weiss released their grips on me, and I jumped over the seats in front of me. Before I could reach the Arena, the two combatants were hidden by a thick curtain of mist. When it cleared, a deep crimson Dragon stood over the warrior, pinning him down with a claw. A growl rumbled from deep within her, clearly showing her anger. The look of pure terror on Cardin’s face was priceless, but I didn’t have time to admire it.

“Ruby!” I called, leaping over the barricade and onto the Arena floor. She turned toward me as I reached her.

“Ruby.” I placed my left hand on her nose, looking deeply into her silver eyes. “Please. Let him go.” I whispered. The Dragoness nodded slightly, showing her understanding. Slowly, the clawed foot lifted from Cardin’s chest and he crawled away quickly.

“I know he hurt you, and I know you are angry at him, but I promise I won’t ever let it happen again. Yang and Weiss will beat him to within an inch of his life before he even gets to you.” I placed my other hand on the side of her scaled head, and she slowly closed her eyes. She began to grow smaller, becoming Human-like again. Soon, I found myself holding the small, and very naked, girl to my chest. Yang and Weiss reached our side, and the blonde brawler pulled off her uniform jacket, wrapping it around Ruby’s body.

Seeing how tired she was, I lifted Ruby into my arms, where she curled into my chest. I began to carry her back toward the dorm. As I passed the professor, she nodded to me, only receiving an angry scowl in return.

*** I’m out of “break” puns again ***

“So, Weiss?” I started once Ruby was in the bathroom.

“Yes?” the white-haired Dragoness responded.

“When you show your true form, you always come back with your clothes on, so why was Ruby naked?” I asked.

“Well,” She began. “It takes a lot of concentration to form clothes with the body. Since Ruby was in combat at the time, I’m sure clothes weren’t exactly on her list of priorities.” I nodded, understanding. My ears twitched as I heard Ruby start to open the bathroom door. I smiled, preparing to congratulate her, but it soon faded. Ruby stepped out of the bathroom, her head hanging low, and her eyes bright red from crying.

“What’s wrong Ruby?” I asked. I rushed to her and wrapped her in a hug. She sniffled, and tears started to soak into my shirt.

“I- I- I’m s- sorry, Blake.” She cried, wrapping her arms around me.

“Sorry? For what?” I asked, confused. “You did nothing wrong.” The small girl gripped me tighter, almost crushing me.

“I- I made you mad, I’m sorry.” I shook my head softly. Drawing her closer, I began to run my hands through her hair, something that I found would calm her.

“I wasn’t mad at you, Ruby. I just needed to stop you from killing the kid. He deserves it, but you don’t need to live with that for the rest of your life.” The Dragoness shifted slightly, but didn’t seem to be calming. I looked to Weiss for help, only to find her missing. Sighing, I sat on Yang’s bed, pulling Ruby down with me.

“Ruby, I’m sorry I made you think I was mad. I promise you I was never angry with you, in fact, I’m really proud of you. Weiss is too. It was you first transformation, it’s something that you should be proud of. I don’t care why it happened, or what happened afterward. All we care about is that you did it.” The young Dragon nodded, her face still buried in my shoulder. I continued to sit there, running my hands along her back, and through her hair, and she began to calm. Before long, she had fallen asleep in my arms. The display on the clock said 1400. Well, we can both use some extra sleep, I guess. I stood up, lifting Ruby in my arms, and settled us both into our shared bed.

“Goodnight, little one.” I whispered.

*** Still out of puns, don’t worry though, I’ll find more ***

I groaned as my spine began to ache again. After the third day of training with Yang, I was sore and covered in bruises. While Ruby had been training with Weiss, Yang and I had decided to train with each other. Though we seemed equally matched at first, her stamina soon started to show, and I left with new bruises every day. I collapsed on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Over the week since the incident in the Arena, Weiss had been working almost non-stop with Ruby, trying to help her get control over her transformations. Only once since that day, has Ruby been able to show her true form. It had been the day before Yang and I had started sparring. I had been watching when it happened, but it didn’t last very long. As soon as I had gotten up, she was back in her Human-like form. After that, I decided not to watch her training, fearing that I may be distracting her.

Sighing, I turned on my side. My eyes caught on a white object on Weiss’ bed, half covered by her pillow. I got up, glancing at the door, and made my way to her bed. It was a titleless white book, half-hidden by the Dragoness’ white pillow. I picked it up, turning it over to inspect it. Sitting back down on my bed, I opened to the first page.

“Entry, 1st of Fall: I have started a new journal, because a new stage of our lives is about to take place.” A diary. Weiss had a diary. I looked around, knowing that I should put it back. The buzzing of my scroll startled me, and I dug it out of my pocket. The display showed that Yang was messaging me.

-Y- “Hey Kitty-cat, Weiss and I r gonna take Ruby to town and get her some new clothes… she just ripped hers, and ice-queen wants to replace her clothes from last week… wanna join?” I glanced at the book in my lap, before tapping the text box.

-B- “Not feeling well, go without me.” It only took a few seconds for Yang to respond.

-Y- “K, Rubes says ‘feel better’”

-B- “Thanks.” I put my scroll down, picking the book back up, and picked up where I left off.

“Ozpin said that we will meet our new partners tomorrow. He already has them picked out, but they still have to pass the exam. I hope Ruby finally finds her true partner. I don’t care about mine, I’ve waited for over a century, I can wait another, but Ruby deserves better. She already seems nervous, I will try to help her sleep, she needs it. End entry.”

“Entry, 2nd of Fall: We have met our new partners. Blake Belladonna, Ruby’s partner, surprised me with her knowledge of our race. I would never have expected an outsider like her to be so knowledgeable of our race. My partner however, seems to be much less knowledgeable. Her name is Yang Xiao-Long, a well-endowed blonde with a passion for hitting things. My life seems to be getting more interesting by the second. End entry.”

“Entry, 3rd of Fall: I’m very proud that Blake is Ruby’s partner. She seems to be very caring and protective. She is a Faunus, feline it seems, and is already helping Ruby break out of her shell. During the first night, they slept together, and Ruby slept soundly. Not even a whimper all night. She hasn’t slept like that since I first met her, before…” the next part was hastily erased. “I do hope that this partnership works out for her, she of all people deserves it. End entry.”

“Entry, 4th of Fall: Ruby had a nightmare last night. I helped Blake comfort her, she stayed awake with me as Ruby calmed. She is the most caring person I have ever met. I would be proud if she turned out to be Ruby’s true partner. Nothing else of interest happened today. End entry.”

“Entry, 5th of Fall: Today, Yang and I went into town. I needed to buy new clothes, as it had been almost half a year since I was last in the city of Vale. The brute spent all her time looking at the most promiscuous articles of clothing she could find. When we made it back, we found the dorm empty. Ruby soon returned, however, with a large scythe and a bandage on her arm. When I asked where Blake was, she said that she had to go talk to Professor Goodwitch about homework. I then asked about the scythe and bandage. Ruby told me that Blake had helped her create the weapon, and soon after it was done, she had accidentally cut herself. At first I was mad at Blake, but I soon saw the reasoning she had for helping Ruby with the weapon. Ruby needs to be able to defend herself somehow, at least until her true form is released. End entry.”

“Entry, 8th of Fall: I am becoming increasingly frustrated with my partner, Yang. The constant jokes, in any and all situations, her erratic, inconsistent, and unsafe fighting style, and her attitude… It seems that her entire purpose in life is to annoy me. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s happening. I’m… falling for her. Hard. Everything she does just makes me fall deeper and deeper. I can never be mad at her, no matter what she does. I’ve started to find myself getting distracted by her in class. I’m going to snap soon if I can’t stop this somehow. Come on Weiss, you useless lesbian. Think. End entry.” I snorted as I finished reading the entry. So Weiss is falling for Yang, huh. Sure would explain the dopey smile I caught her with in class the other day. I wonder what Yang thinks about her? Shaking my head, I went back to the book.

“Entry, 11th of Fall: Ozpin has called us in for a mission. It seems a little early in our training for something like this. I hope it turns out well. End entry.”

“Entry, 12th of Fall: I fell asleep immediately after we got back. The mission was successful, with only Blake being injured. Her aura saved her from death, but her side was almost torn to pieces. Of course she ignored my advice to get it sutured, instead opting to clean it and wrap her torso with bandages. It seems to be affecting her very little, as she is walking with no problem, and doesn’t even wince when Ruby hugs her. I swear she is going to kill herself trying to prove that she is tough. End entry.” I lifted the bottom of my shirt, my fingers dragging on the bandage beneath it. The wound no longer hurt, but it still looked nasty.

“Entry, 13th of Fall: Ruby has had her first transformation. It happened during a training fight. Her attacker pushed her to far, and her true form emerged to protect her. I will begin training to help her control her forms more easily. End entry.”

“Entry: 14th of Fall: No success. Tomorrow. End entry.”

“Entry, 15th of Fall. Same results. End entry”

“Entry, 16th of Fall. My sister is in love.” Wait, what? Where the hell did that come from? I looked up, confused, before reading on.

“To transform, one must control their emotions. All Grimm Dragons know this, it is basic knowledge, taught to us since we were hatchlings. The three strongest emotions are the hardest to control, but they make transformations the easiest. These emotions are Fear, Anger, and Love. A Dragon in fear for his or her life may transform to protect themselves, much like Ruby’s first transformation. An angry Dragon may transform for any number of reasons, revenge being at the top of the list, but there are many more. And finally, a Dragon who is in love may transform as a show of prowess, to show that they are a worthy mate, or to protect loved ones. Today I managed to get Ruby to show her true form again, the only difference between the training sessions has been one small variable. Today, Blake was reading nearby. I know that Ruby does not fear Blake, nor is she angry with her, so that leaves only one explanation. Though she may not know it yet, Ruby is in love with Blake.” I slammed to book closed, jumped up, pushed it back under Weiss’ pillow, and collapsed back on my bed.

Alright, let’s think about this for a second. Weiss seems very certain, and her arguments were logical, I guess. But what does this mean, I don’t like Ruby that way, do I? She’s just my partner. My dorky, cute, lovable… This really isn’t helping my case. Ruby’s more like a sister to me right? I want to protect her, to help her come out of her shell. I want to be there for her whenever she may need me, to be a shoulder to cry on, and a friend to laugh with. I want to help her get over what her last partner had done to her. She is strong, smart, beautiful. I love cuddling with her at night… Dammit. I can’t, I’m straight. I have dated guys before, even had sex. Well, one guy… and I guess the sex doesn’t really count with him. The whole dating thing really shouldn’t count with him.

I jumped as the door was thrown open, and Yang walked in with two plastic bags full of clothing. Weiss and Ruby followed her. I could feel my face starting to heat up as I caught sight of Ruby.

“We’re home!” Yang practically sang. “Woah, you don’t look very good, Blake. Your face is all red, are you okay?” she asked when she saw me.

“Not really.” I half-lied. “I hope it’s a one-day sickness.”

“You should take a shower, usually helps me.” The blonde suggested.

“Thanks, I’ll try that.” I stood slowly, blushing even more as Ruby looked at me worriedly. I looked at Ruby once more, before closing the door of the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot, chapter done! And what a roller-coaster that one was. We had fights, transformations, crying, comforting, training, and Blake snooping around. The diary idea came to me when a user by the name of "j" suggested that I switch to Weiss' POV, so we could get a look at what is going on over there. I liked the idea, but I didn't really think I could fit a POV change into this fic. It just wouldn't feel right, ya know. So, diary it is, and I think t turned out pretty well. Also, toward the end there I started dropping more hints about Blake's past, let's see if you can catch on, hmm? Also, between working, and writing fics, I've been reading a fic called "RWBY: Ember Legacy" by dongyrn. It's really good, and you should check it out if you haven't already.
> 
> Also, on a different note, are any of you people good at art? I've been thinking about drawing up a cover picture for this fic, but I really suck at it, and none of my friends are any good either. You'd think a bunch of Aeronautical-Engineering students would at least be able to draw a little, right? Guess not though. If you are interested in making one, PM me or comment or whatever, I would love to get a cover pic up for this.


	9. There Be Dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, Herperderper here with a reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally late update to Heart of a Dragon. I'm really sorry about how long this took, but as I said in my last (I think) update, my life got really fucked. But, enough of that. Now! I don't really like this chapter. So original, right. Artist doesn't like their work. But it's true, I'm not happy with how it turned out, but I really can't keep re-writting it. The chapter as you see it is a whole hell of a lot different than the one I had on paper. It took almost 6 months, albeit intermittently, to get this chapter to a point that I could release it. I finished it up at 03:06 the day of release. So please keep that in mind when reading. Anywho, on the the story!

“That’s it, Ruby. Concentrate.” Weiss whispered, standing in front of the Crimson Dragoness. Ruby’s eyes were shut tight, concentrating on holding her form. Her scales practically glowed in the afternoon sunlight. I sat off to the side with my back against a tree, the book I had been reading now lying forgotten beside me. I watched as Ruby opened her eyes, now stable in her true form. She looked at Weiss, then to me, before settling back on Weiss, The Dragoness let out a hum of excitement, spreading her wings until they touched the trees. A few green leaves floated down down. One leaf settled on Ruby’s nose, and her eyes crossed to focus on it. She watched as a breeze picked it up and took it away. Her head tilted slightly as she focused on the leaf’s flight. It flew out of sight, and the crimson Dragoness looked back toward Weiss. The white clad girl smiled up at Ruby.

“Now, let us fly!” she said excitedly. She turned to me. “Bring Yang, meet us back at Beacon.” she told me, before swiftly changing and taking flight.

“It’s a pretty big school!” I shouted after her. She didn't hear, and the silver and red Dragons disappeared from view.

“Meet us back at Beacon.” I muttered in my best sarcastic Weiss™ voice. “I’ll just assume you mean the fountain, Weiss, or maybe I’ll go back to the dorm. Curling up in bed with my book doesn't sound half bad.” A cracking stick behind me alerted me to Yang’s arrival. 

“Where’d they go?” she asked.

“Ruby managed to stick in her true form. They went off flying. Weiss told us to meet them back at the School.” I explained.

“Pretty big school.” Yang commented. I snorted.

“That’s what I said.” The blonde just shrugged.

“Might as well start heading back. Rubes probably won't fly for too long, first time and all, and it's gonna take us a while to get there.” I nodded, following her as she lead the way home. 

 

*** Man I really feel like I’m walking the line with these puns ***

 

“Adam, you cannot treat Humans like this and expect then to see you as anything but an animal.” my father’s deep voice stated.

“And you aren’t making any progress with your method.” the bull Faunus shouted back. “They attack us at our protests, arrest us for defending ourselves. If it’s violence that these Humans want, then it’s violence that we should give them. It’s the only thing that Humans respond to.”

“The White Fang isn’t a violent organization. We protest peacefully and legally. If we were to start acting like what the Humans see us as, then they will have won!” Father yelled.

“Please stop fighting!” I screamed at them, only to be silenced by them both.

“How long is it going to take for you to see it my way, Old Man? You just aren't fit to lead us anymore. It isn't working!” Father was enraged by Adam’s words.

“If you don't want to do it my way, then leave! I don't want to see you anywhere near my daughter again!” he yelled, his face red with anger.

“Then you won’t!” Adam shouted back, drawing a pocket knife.

“No!” I screamed, jumping at him. He slashed the knife across my father’s throat, before pushing me away. My mother can down the stairs as I hit the ground.

“What the hell-” she started, before Adam cut her off by burying the knife in her chest. I crawled into the next room, pulling my father’s old weapon from its hiding spot under his desk. I whipped around, attempting to aim at Adam, but the red haired faunus slapped the gun away from me. I screamed as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“Quiet, bitch!” he yelled, beating me with the hilt of his knife. I began to beat his back with my fists, twisting to break free from his grip. He sighed, then threw me back onto the ground.

“You will learn to do as I say, my love.” he growled.

“Fuck you, you monster!” I screamed back at him, trying to get to my feet. He smiled, shaking his head. 

“Soon.” he said shortly, before reaching down and picking me up by the front of my shirt. He pulled back, and slapped me across the face.

“Blake? Are you okay?” I blinked. Yang stood in front of me.

“Yeah,” I said, startled. “I’m fine.” Yang didn’t look convinced, but she dropped the subject.

“As I was saying; the fact that the entire school knows about Ruby now means that it probably won’t be too long until that gets out to other people.” Yang began. “Ya know, gossip and stuff. That means others are going to hear and be curious about the Dragons. Considering that Grimm Dragons haven’t been heard from in centuries, to the point of some believing they are a myth, plenty of people are going to be overly excited. They’ll want to know if the Dragon’s are coming back, which we don’t know, or if it’s a hoax or something. Either way, a lot of people are probably going to want to try to, ya know, talk to Ruby and Weiss anyway they can. Luckily, nobody really knows what they look like, unless that gets out too. If it does, it’s gonna be really hard to go into town and stuff. It would be like we’re celebrities or something, everyone trying to get into our personal business. I know Ruby won’t like that, she hates crowds and new people, and I’m sure Weiss won’t be comfortable. She puts on a calm face, but I know she doesn’t like being in big crowds like that. I’m worried that it’s going to affect us, to the point that they can’t go anywhere with us, and they’ll be stuck here in the school and that’s bad because they don’t want to be but they can’t go anywhere without being stalked or whatever and-”

“Yang!” I interrupted, surprised as her long-winded speech turned into a small panic attack.

“Huh?”

“I get that you’re worried, but we’ll figure it out.” I said, doing my best to comfort her. She paused before slowly nodding. “No matter what happens,” I continued, “We’ll make sure that Weiss and Ruby are okay. We’re their partners, right? And that’s what partners do. The two of us are going to make sure that nothing ever makes them uncomfortable again.”

“Yeah!” Yang smiled. “Go team Bumblebee!”

“What?”

“You know, like our colors.” She gestured to my clothes and then to hers. “I wear yellow, you wear black. Like the colors of a bee.”

“Right.” I deadpanned.

“I guess it did sound better in my head.” She admitted. I grinned.

“I think it sounds fine.” I told her.

“You do? Aw yeah!” She punched the air, beginning to run ahead. Sighing, I started to run after her.

 

*** If I wait too long to update, do you think Nora will break my legs? ***

 

“What took you so long?” Ruby asked as we walked into the dorm.

“Lack of wings.” I told her, ruffleing her hair between her small horns.

“Lack of information.” Yang muttered.

“That too.” I admitted. “It doesn’t really help that we waited at the fountain for, like, 20 minutes.”

“Why did you do that?” Weiss asked, coming out from the bathroom.

“Well, all you said was, and I quote, ‘Bring Yang, meet us back at Beacon.’”

“It, uh, it is a pretty big school.” Ruby said to Weiss.

“That’s what I said” Yang and I spoke in unison. Weiss looked at us for a minute, before shaking her head and smirking.

“Well, maybe you should just learn to read my mind.” The Dragoness turned walked past us and through the door.

“Where you goin’, Weiss?” Yang asked.

“Food. Ruby needs to eat. She has spent a large amount of energy today, and she needs to replace it.” Ruby followed her excitedly.

“Might as well tag along.” Yang decided, and I followed the group out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! So, as you can see it was a bit shorter than normal. Another by-product of the circumstances, but it's here. Ok, back to real talk for a bit. Sad, I know. However, it must be done. As you have been informed, I have a life (Wow!) and it really makes this hard sometimes, so the updates are going to be very intermittent, but trust me; I'm still working on it. I would never abandon a story without telling my readers. So, if any of you read my other story; Ace of Aces (or AoA), please keep in mind that it too is being worked on slowly. I hope you all understand as to why this update took waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too damn long, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Hopefully it isn't too far away. Don't forget to tell me what you liked and didn't like. Herperderper, out.


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